Category Archives: News Event

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Trump administration’s notorious anti-drug hard-liner at the top of the Justice Department, has issued a memorandum calling on federal attorneys to pursue capital punishment in “appropriate cases” of “drug-related prosecutions” — including for those “dealing in extremely large quantities of drugs.” The memo referenced the “opioid epidemic,” and made no mention…

Joe Airone’s voice drops when he speaks about the consequences associated with suspending the operations of the Sweetleaf Collective, a California cannabis compassion program he has run for more than half his life. “This is literally a life or death issue,” he says. “On my project, we have a patient pass [away] every two to…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Public Health is issuing a warning about synthetic cannabinoids after six people who used them suffered severe bleeding. The substance is also referred to as “fake weed,” ”K2,” and “spice.” Dr. Nirav Shah is director of public health. He says the perception is that synthetic cannabinoids are a…

On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced he had signed an executive order to expand the state’s medical marijuana program, including adding conditions that qualify for a medical card and allowing the purchase of edibles. When Murphy first took office in January, he immediately ordered a full review of the state’s medical marijuana program,…

For centuries, humans used the hemp plant for a wide variety of purposes. Its fibers were spun into cloth more than 10,000 years ago. Today the fast-growing plant has many industrial uses, from clothing and paper to biofuel and plastics_even food for both people and animals. There’s just one problem: It’s difficult to grow the…

LOS ANGELES — Could plans to turn an old California ghost town into a marijuana mecca be going up in smoke? Cannabis technology company American Green, which bought Nipton for $5 million last year, has sold it to another company for $7.7 million, acknowledging it struggled to raise the money needed to remake the old…

There were some concerns that conservative lawmakers might prevent Canada from legalizing marijuana over the summer, as originally intended. But now it seems the northern nation is back on track to imposing its taxed and regulated scheme in a timely fashion. However, the “when” in this equation is a bit of a mystery. Although previous…

To reduce the California cannabis industry into a day, to package it and present it to a novice audience, defies the laws of gravity. Behemoth forces of capital and regulatory government must be reconciled with decades-old cannabis movements resistant to corporate influence, and then filtered through the environmental and political trends affecting every aspect of…

LAS VEGAS — Two Las Vegas-area elected officials want more marijuana tax revenue to be used for education in Nevada, but Gov. Brian Sandoval says not to expect him to call a special session of the Legislature to take up the issue. State Sen. Tick Segerblom, a Democrat who backed marijuana legalization in Nevada, and…

Golden Leaf Holdings is taking the first step to becoming the Starbucks or McDonald’s of weed, even though marijuana remains illegal across much of the U.S. The cannabis company has opened a chain of marijuana stores in Oregon called Chalice Farms. And now venture firm BlackShire Capital has signed a letter of intent to franchise…

LAS VEGAS — Recreational marijuana sales hit $32.8 million in Nevada in January, outpacing the state’s projections but falling short of the $35.8 million sold in December. The state published the most recent statistics last week. Sales numbers for the state’s new green market have fluctuated each month since it opened in July, going up…